Articles | Volume 19, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6149-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6149-2025
Research article
 | 
25 Nov 2025
Research article |  | 25 Nov 2025

Seasonal drainage-system evolution beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet inferred from transient speed-up events

Grace Gjerde, Mark D. Behn, Laura A. Stevens, Sarah B. Das, and Ian Joughin

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Cited articles

Andrews, L. C., Catania, G. A., Hoffman, M. J., Gulley, J. D., Lüthi, M. P., Ryser, C., Hawley, R. L., and Neumann, T. A.: Direct observations of evolving subglacial drainage beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet, Nature, 514, 80–83, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13796, 2014. 
Andrews, L. C., Hoffman, M. J., Neumann, T. A., Catania, G. A., Lüthi, M. P., Hawley, R. L., Schild, K. M., Ryser, C., and Morriss, B. F.: Seasonal evolution of the subglacial hydrologic system modified by supraglacial lake drainage in western Greenland, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 123, 1479–1496, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JF004585, 2018. 
Bartholomaus, T. C., Anderson, R. S., and Anderson, S. P.: Growth and collapse of the distributed subglacial hydrologic system of Kennicott Glacier, Alaska, USA, and its effects on basal motion, Journal of Glaciology, 57, 985–1002, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214311798843269, 2011. 
Bartholomew, I., Nienow, P., Mair, D., Hubbard, A., King, M. A., and Sole, A.: Seasonal evolution of subglacial drainage and acceleration in a Greenland outlet glacier, Nature Geoscience, 3, 408–411, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo863, 2010. 
Bartholomew, I., Nienow, P., Sole, A., Mair, D., Cowton, T., Palmer, S., and Wadham, J.: Supraglacial forcing of subglacial drainage in the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet, Geophysical Research Letters, 38, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL047063, 2011. 
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Short summary
We characterize the magnitude and variability of transient speed-ups across a Global Positioning System (GPS) array in western Greenland in 2011 and 2012. While we find no relationship between speed-up and runoff, late-season events have larger speed-up amplitudes and are more spatially uniform compared to early season events. These results reflect an evolution toward a less efficient drainage system late in the melt season, with a pervasive system of open surface-to-bed conduits.
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